Cotton-chopper



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.,

s. FREEMAN.

GOTTON GHOPPER.

PatehtedJune 12, 1888.

(No Model.)

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S. FREEMAN. COTTGN SHOPPER.

110. 881,518.v Patented June 12, 1888.

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(No Model.) Y Y 3 Sheets- Sheet 3. S. FREEMAN.

COTTON SHOPPER.

110. 884,518. Patented June 12, 1888.

PATENT F F ICE@ STEPHEN FREEMAN, OF RACINE,l IWISCONSIN.

COTTN-CHOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,516, dated June k12, 1888.

Application tiled October 13, 1887. Serial No. 252,198. (No model.)

To all whom, it' may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN FREEMAN, of Racine, in the county of Racine, and in the State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Choppers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invent-ion relates to cotton-choppers; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts,to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan View of a carriage that forms part of a machine constructed according to my invention; Fig.y

2, a similar view of a frame that is suspended beneath the carriage; Fig. 3, a vertical longitudinal section of the machine; Fig. 4, a rear elevation of the same; Fig. 5, avertical transverse view taken through the front portion of the frame; Figs. 6 and 7,dctail views of an adjustable clamp; Fig. 8, a section on line 88, Fig. 5; and Fig. 9, aperspective View of a casting that forms part of said machine.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents a frame, and suitably secured to the end timbers of this frame are two bars, B B, that constitute a tongue. Bolted or otherwise secured to the side timbers of the frame A are bearings a for a main 'or drive shaft, C, and rigidly connected to this shaft by set-screws b or other suitable means are wheels D. The frame, tongue, shaft, and wheels,together with aspring-seat, E, suitably connected'to a timber, E', of said frame, constitute a carriage that forms part of my machine.

'Loose on the main shaft C is a bevel gearwheel, F, that meshes with a bevehpinion, G,

`fast on a shaft, H, that has its bearingI bolted or otherwise secured to the rear end timber of the frame A, this gear-wheel being held in position with relation to the pinion by means of a collar, c, rigidly connected to said main shaft. The hub of the gear-wheel F is provided with clutch-teeth d, designed to engage similar teeth, e, on a collar, J, that is feathered to the main shaft C and fitted to a lever, K, the latter being pivotally connected to the front end timber of the carriage-frame A, and arranged to come within easy reach of the operator,who rides upon the seat E, in order that the clutchcollar can be readily shifted to bring it in or out of engagement with the gear-wheel hub to communicate or cut oft' the motion imparted by the revolution of said main shaft. In order to hold the sliding clutch-collar .I in engage.- ment with the hub of the gear-wheel F, the rear end timber of the carriage-frame A is provided with a stop-plate, K', for the lever K.

As best illustrated by Fig. 9, the bearing I for the pinion-shaft H is preferably made in one piece with a verticallydepending thimble, I', that engages a. stem, L, pivoted at its lower end to the ears fof a casting, g, bolted or otherwise secured to the rear end timber of a rectangular frame, M, said thimble being provided with triangular or arcshaped openings h, that in turn engage a pin, t, passed through the stem, whereby the latter is permitted to have both a vertical and partial rotary movement, for the purpose to be hereinafter described.

The forward portion of the frame M is suspended by means of a bifurcated hanger, N, pivotally connected to a lever, O, that is fulcrumed in a casting, j, swiveled to a transverse timber, P, supported on the tonguebars B B, said lever being arranged to come within easy reach of the operator. 'Arranged on the lever O is a spring-catch, 7c, that engages a segmental rack, Q, the latter having its ends loose on piutles m, driven into the timber P, and by means of this construction and the swivel-connection l L at the rear said frame may be adj usted to stand at an angle either right or left of the line of draft and be tilted up or down at the will of the operator.

Secured to the rear end timber and an intermediate transverse timber, R, of the frame M are bearings n, for a longitudinal shaft, S, that has fast thereon a sprocket-Wheel, S', for engagement with a drive-chain, T, the latter being also engaged by a similar wheel, H', detachably connected to the pinion-shaft H, and when said frame is tilted or moved to the right or left the swivel-connection I L, above referred to, will prevent kinking of the chain.

To the forward end of the shaft S is secured a boss, U, that has radiating therefrom two diametrically opposed and slotted guides, p19, for the adjustable arms V of knives V, said arms being given a twist, as best illustrated in IOO Fig. 2, to set the knives so that their cut will be at an angle more or less acute to theline of draft, and each of these arms is retained in its adjusted position by means of a set-bolt, q, that engages the slot in the adjacent guide.

In front ofthe knives Y, and parallel to the timber It of the frame M, is another timber, W'. The timbers It W and the front end timber of the frame M are severally provided with slots r, and through each of these slots is passed a set-bolt, s, that has arranged thereon two disks, t t', the opposing faces of which are provided with interlocking corrugations. Each outer disk, t, is provided with shoulders u a, that come against the socket-head s of the setbolts 8 t0 prevent the latter from turning when the nut thereon is screwed up, said shoulders being centrally provided with V-shaped reeesses, for the purpose to be hereinafter described.

Engaged bythe socket-heads of the bolts that pass through the slots in the front end timber of the frame M are the vertical Shanks of casters X, said shanks being engaged by the V- shaped recesses of the shoulders u n, belonging to the outer disks, t, on said bolts.

By the peculiar construction of the clamps composed ofthe sockctbolts and disks thereon, I provide for both a pivotal and vertical adj nstment of the casters, and at the same time the slots in the front end timber of the frame M permit me to laterally adj ust said casters, allof these adj ustments being independent and positive, While at the same time said frame will automatically rise and fall at its front end to adapt itself to the uneven surface of the ground, this operation being due to the peculiar arrangement of the adjustinglever and its rack.

Engaged by the socket-heads of the bblts passed through the slots in the timber NV of the frame M are the standards Y of ploivs Y', said standards being also engaged by the V- shaped recesses in the shoulders u n on the adjacent disks. In a like manner to that described for the casters X, the plou's Y can be given an independent and positive pivotal, vertical, or lateral adjustment, and any two or all of these adjustments of either said casters or ploWs can be made at one time.

Engaged by the socketheads of the bolts passed through the slots in the timber It of the frame M are the standards Z of cultivatorteeth Z', said standards being also engaged by the Vshaped recesses in the shoulders on the adjacent disks, and in a like manner to that above described for the casters X and plows Y', the cultivator-teeth can be given an independent and positive vertical pivotal or lateral adjustment, any tvvo or all of these adjustments being made at one time, if found desirable.

The plows Y loosen the soil, the knives Y chop out the plants at regular intervals, and the cultivatorteeth Z throw the earth up against the remaining plants, these several operations being successively carried on at the same time by a single machine, thus effecting a saving in the labor and expense attendant upon the cultivation of cotton.

In the machine above described the knife shaft is given a steady positive motion, and the mechanism for rotating this shaft can be readily thrown in and out ofgear, while at the same time the various adjustments specified in connection with the casters, plows, and cultivator-teeth enable me to arrange these parts to accord with peculiarities of the surface and any width or depth of cotton-rows, it being immaterial whether these rou's are straight or curved.

Another advantage of my machine lies in the fact that the sprocket-wheel II on the pinion-shaft H may be substituted by anothersuch Wheel havinga greater or less numberofteeth, the drive-chain being correspondingly lengthcned or shortened, and Aby this means I can regulate the eut of thcknives to varythe distance between the standing plants.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of a carriage, a frame suspended beneath the earriage, a chopping mechanism carried on the frame, and casters and plows secured to said frame by laterally-adjustable couplings that permit a pivotal and vertical adjustment of said casters and plows, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cottonchopper, the combination of a carriage, a frame suspended beneath the car riage to have a positive horizontal movement and an automatic vertical movement, a chopping mechanism carried by the frame, and casters secured to said frame to have a pivotal, vertical, and lateral adj ustment,substan tially as set forth.

3. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of a carriage, a sprocket-wheel and pinion carried by a shaft that has its bearing on the carriage, a gear-Wheel loose on the carriageaxle and in mesh with the pinion ,a clutch feathered on said axle for engagement with the hub of the gearwheel, a framesuspended beneath said carriage, a knife-shaft having its bearings on the frame and provided with a sprocket-Wheel, and a drive-chain arranged on said sprocket-wheels, substantially as set forth.

4. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of a suitable carriage, a vertically-depending thimble secured to the carriage and having suitable transverse openings, a stem arranged in the thimble, and a pin passed through this stenl and the openings in said thimble, a frame pivotally connected at its rear to said stem and suspended at its front by a suitable hanger depending from said carriage, and a chopping apparatus carried by said franie,substantially as set forth.

5. Ina cotton-chopper, the combination of a carriage, a bearing secured to the carriage, a vertieally-depending thimble integral with the bearing and provided with suitable transverse IOO openings, a stem arranged in the thimble and a pin passed through this stem and the openings in said thimble, a frame pvotally connected at its rear to said stem and suspended at its front by a suitable hanger depending` carriage, a rectangular frame carrying the chopping mechanism and swiveled at its rear to the rear of the carriage, a lever svviveled to said carriage, a hanger connecting the lever and forward portion of the frame, a pivoted segmental rack, and a spring-catch arranged on the lever to engage the rack, substantially as set forth. v

7. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of a carriage, a frame suspended beneath the can riage to have a positive horizontal adjustment and an automatic vertical movement,.a rotary chopper having its bearings on the frame,and casters, plows, and cultivator-teeth secured to said frameby laterallyadjustable couplings that permit apivotal and vertical adjustment, substantially as set forth.

8. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of a carriage and its axle, a frame suspended beneath the carriage to have a positive horizontal adjustment and an automatic vertica1movement, a chopper-shaft havingvits bearing on thc'frame, casters, plows, and cultivator-teeth secured to said frame by laterally-adjustable couplings that permit a pivotal and vertical adjustment, a sprocketfwheel upon the chopper-shaft, a sprocket-wheel and shaft upon said carriage driven from the axle, and a drivechain arranged on said sprocket-Wheels, substantially as set forth.

AIn testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto setvmy hand, at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN FREEMAN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES, H. LEE, HARVEY CoNvERsE. 

